This One Trick Will Totally Impress Your Clients [Quick Tip]

Are you ready for this one super top secret trick we use to keep our clients and partners happy?

Seriously, are you ready...?

It's Customer Service 101, really, but it's something I do consistently and it makes a big difference.

OVERCOMMUNICATE.

As project manager at SpinWeb, my mantra is "you can never have too much communication when it comes to a client." If my client knows what to expect from the beginning and I communicate with them every step of the way regarding process and timelines, then they will be much happier in the end.

Even if you have to communicate something negative, like "We can't design this for a month because our designer is out on vacation or our schedule is super busy," they will appreciate this in the long run.

For meetings, at the beginning I like to communicate who is in the meeting and exactly what we will accomplish throughout the meeting. I end the meeting by summarizing the main points and I also send a follow-up email. The follow-up email generally includes what we talked about, any next steps and who is responsible for taking actions.

One more tip for tracking client communication: we use a CRM to keep all client communication in one spot. When I email a client anything, I can simply drop the email address that tracks our client communication to the CRM into the blind copy field. We also just started using HubSpot's new CRM. We love the feature that allows us to make a call through the CRM on our computers so we can record the call.

When in doubt, send an email, make a call and overcommunicate! Your clients will appreciate it.

Do you have a secret weapon for impressing your clients and or keeping your constituents/customers happy? Share it in the comments below.

I agree, to a point. In terms of cadence and channel of communication, trouble can arise with email because I believe (a) we all receive too many emails and (b) not everyone is great at effective email communication. On large projects, a good tip is to mandate that all email communication begin with phrase in subject line (e.g. [website redesign]) so it's easy for someone to digest.

Michael, I couldn't agree more...it is the old saying: "Say what you are going to say; say it; say what you said." I would rather be over communicated with! And, that is one of the many reasons we like Spin Web!